The DR Congo in Pictures

The DR Congo is celebrating the 50th anniversary of independence from Belgium this week. Photographer Stephan Vanfleteren has photographed 50 Congolese as a portrait of the country at fifty. Above:

Albert, butler at the Belgian embassy, 53: “The first day I got the job I said to myself: ‘You’re in Belgium now, not the Congo’. The ambassador’s residence must always be clean. Here, there’s electricity on tap, it’s not like being at home.”